World Wide Web—The Catholic Writers’ Guild will hold its annual online conference for writers Feb 17-19, 2017. This faith-focused authors conference offers presentations covering all aspects of writing from the faith aspects of your calling as a writer to publishing and marketing your books. There will also be online pitch sessions with noted Catholic publishers and secular publishers.

The conference will be held using webinar software, making the experience more personal and immediate.

“Last year, we had amazing success with presentations in webinar format. It took the learning to a new level,” said organizer Karina Fabian. Fabian said the workshops offer terrific opportunities to ask in-depth questions and get feedback from knowledgeable instructors.

This year’s sessions include a wide range of talents, including speakers like Lisa Mladinich, host of the TV talk show WOMAN; Lisa Hendey, author and founder of CatholicMom.com, horror author Karen Ullo, and attorney Antony Kolenc. In addition, there are practical workshops on indie publishing, Goodreads, characterization and more.

Pitch sessions give authors with finished books a chance to personally interest a publisher. Pitch sessions include well known Catholic publishers like Our Sunday Visitor and Ave Maria, and secular presses like Liberty Island and Vinspire.

“Every year, we hear back from an author who finished a book, started a project, or got a publishing contract thanks to the Catholic Writers’ Conference Online. Plus people make contacts and good friends. It’s a terrific opportunity, especially for those who can’t afford to attend a live conference,” Fabian said.

Copyright James and Ellen Hrkach, please do not use without permission

“Blessed are you,
O God of our fathers;
praised be your name
forever and ever.
Let the heavens and
all your creation
praise you forever.
“You made Adam and
you gave him his wife Eve
to be his help and support;
and from these two
the human race descended.
You said,
“It is not good for the man to be alone;
Let us make him a partner like himself”
Now, Lord, you know that I take this
wife of mine, not because of lust,
but for a noble purpose.
Call down your mercy on me and on her,
and allow us to live together to a happy old age.”
Tobit 8:7

This beautiful prayer was the second reading of our Nuptial Mass in 1982 when my husband and I were married. When I first read these words many years ago, they affected me deeply, especially when I learned the history of why Tobias said this prayer. After losing seven husbands before she could consummate her union with them, Sarah entered into marriage with Tobias. Tobias knew the history and understood that he could die if he married her. But he trusted God, recited the above prayer fervently and went on to a happy marriage with Sarah.

Nowadays, many Catholic couples live together or are sexually active before marriage. Same sex marriage is now legal in the United States (as it has been for ten years here in Canada). As much as cohabiting and same sex couples may desire to love one another – and most, I’m certain, really do feel love and affection towards the other – they cannot love each other in the way they are called to: freely, totally, faithfully and fruitfully, truly loving as God loves. Sexual relations are meant to be the renewal of a couple’s marriage vows. If there is no marriage, there are no vows and there can be no renewal.

Essentially, pre-marital sex, contracepted sex and sex between two people of the same gender are all lies.

“God help us to love each other freely, totally, faithfully and fruitfully. Help us to love and not to lust.”

About “The Death of Me, the Life of Us”

How did you find yourself inspired to write this/these piece(s)?

This particular short story has been one I started to write years ago and it’s loosely based on a true incident that I witnessed. I have been wanting to finish the story for years, but just never felt inspired to do so. When it came time to gather stories for the Anthology, I wanted to…

On Epiphany Sunday each year, our family has continued a tradition of reciting a blessing and marking the lintel of every doorway in our home (usually with chalk) indicating the year and the initials of the wise men (Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar): 20 C M B 17. (Photo below is from last year!) CMB also stands for Christus Mansionem Benedicat, Latin for “May Christ Bless this House.” To find out more information on this beautiful tradition, click here.

From the Amazon summary: The cast of characters is strange and exotic: shepherds and magicians, an emperor and a despot, angels, and a baby who is Almighty God. The strangeness calls for an explanation, and this book provides it by examining the characters and the story in light of the biblical and historical context.

Bestselling author Scott Hahn who has written extensively on Scripture and the early Church, brings evidence to light, dispelling some of the mystery of the story. Yet Christmas is made familiar all over again by showing it to be a family story. Christmas, as it appears in the New Testament, is the story of a father, a mother, and a child–their relationships, their interactions, their principles, their individual lives, and their common life. To see the life of this “earthly trinity” is to gaze into heaven.

My review: Excellent book, a kind of “behind-the-scenes” narrative. I was able to buy the Kindle edition for 1.99 when it was on sale a few weeks ago.

From the Amazon summary:Unsinkable is the definitive memoir by film legend and Hollywood icon Debbie Reynolds. Actress, comedienne, singer, and dancer Debbie Reynolds shares the highs and lows of her life as an actress during Hollywood’s Golden Age, anecdotes about her lifelong friendship with Elizabeth Taylor and her experiences as the foremost collector of Hollywood memorabilia, and intimate details of her marriages and family life with her children, Carrie and Todd Fisher.

My review: Like most people, I was shocked at Carrie Fisher’s death last week and then just one day later, equally saddened by her mother’s death. I’ve always liked both Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds, but this book gives the reader a better idea of all the heartbreak and financial challenges Debbie has had to face in her life. The Kindle edition was reduced in price a few days after Debbie’s death so I took advantage and downloaded it. For mature audiences only.

From the Amazon summary: It is 1878 and the Caldwells and Wainwrights have been feuding for decades. Still, Sarah Caldwell has misgivings when her father pressures her into distracting a ranch hand while he and her brothers rob the Wainwright place. When it becomes clear that hand is actually Cord Wainwright, Sarah realizes she needs to lay low. But Cord spots her in town and, with the sheriff away, makes a citizen’s arrest, dragging her off to the Wainwright ranch until the sheriff’s return. As the feud boils over, Cord and Sarah make a most inconvenient discovery they are falling in love. Can they betray their families for love? Or will their families betray them? Against the beautiful and wild backdrop of the Rocky Mountains comes this sweeping saga of romance, betrayal, and forgiveness from beloved author Kathleen Morgan.

My review: Just started reading this one, but if it’s like other Kathleen Morgan books, it will be a clean, Christian romance that I will thoroughly enjoy.

Synopsis: Sisters Ann, Tommie and Rita are part of a classified mission to explore an alien ship that has crash landed on an asteroid three billion miles from earth. Humanity’s first contact with beings from beyond the solar system is bound to unlock the mystery of life in the universe… but the crew have their own secrets; hidden fears, desires, horrible sins – and a mission to kill. Researchers discover something unique about the third arm of the ship: something wonderful, terrifying and…holy. This discovery challenges Rita and Ann to confront their own pasts in order to secure the safety of the mission and the very souls of the crew.

Review:Karina Fabian’s Discovery is a suspenseful space adventure with deep roots that extend to questions about life, death, faith, and purpose. The crew members of the Edwina Taggert have radically different motives for embarking on a mission to explore an alien vessel. With the dexterity of an Isaac Asimov or Larry Niven, Fabian makes the science and speculative science of the story accessible, deftly weaving it into the fabric of the story. What the crew of Discovery finds when they arrive at their destination challenges their beliefs, aspirations, and schemes, and keeps the reader wondering to the last page. T.M. Doran, author of Toward the Gleam, Terrapin, Iota

Excerpt: Augustus laughed and put a friendly arm around James’ shoulder, leading him down to the ship’s offices. He said nothing more until they got to the conference room. He held the door open for James, and when they had stepped through, announced, “Gentlemen, I’d like you to meet Dr. James Smith. He thinks I want him to find Atlantis.”

Two men sat at the table. The younger dressed in jeans and a gray collared shirt with the Luna Technological University logo over the pocket; his mousy brown hair and pale brown eyes combined with a tense, nervous posture reminded James of many worried grad students he had known. The older, a fifty-something man dressed in a similar shirt but with tweed pants, nodded James’ way. His relaxed full-throated chuckle was for Cole’s benefit.

Augustus continued, “James, this is Dr. William Thoren, Dean of Astrophysics at LunaTech, and this is Chris Davidson.” “My protégé,” Thoren added when Augustus paused.

The entrepreneur’s eyes flicked in annoyance. He hated having his dramatic moments spoiled. Nonetheless, he continued on as if the dean had not spoken. “Chris has been working on a rather uninspiring project for his doctorate that has had a surprising result. But wait!”

With that impish grin, he reached into his pockets and pulled out four small devices, which he set at four points of the room. When he pressed the remote in his hand, they heard a brief hum, then a shimmery fog formed a dome over them. No one outside the dome would be able to hear them and would only see vague shapes.

Scientists from the moon? Security fields? Well, if Augustus wants my attention, he’s got it. James took a seat at the table, and cocked a brow at Augustus. “So you’ve found the Lost City of Atlantis in space?”

“Close, my friend. Close. Chris?”

Chris gave a brief glance at his supervisor, and Thoren nodded in a benign, “carry on.” He pulled out a handheld computer, set it on the small table, and pressed some buttons. A holographic map of the solar system from the Sun to the asteroid belt appeared, beautifully detailed and large enough that James had to sit back a bit.

“Sir, are you familiar with the Kuiper Belt?” Chris asked.

James shrugged. What’s going on? “Ky-per Belt? That’s not like the asteroid belt?”

“This is the asteroid belt.” Chris set his finger on the thin line of rocks just past Mars’ orbit. He slowly pulled his finger toward himself. As he did, planets rushed past James’ field of vision: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto. A moment of black space, then the image stopped at a smattering of dots of various sizes.

“This is the Kuiper Belt. K-U-I-P-E-R, even though it’s pronounced ‘Kyper.’ It’s really just the rubble left over from the formation of the solar system. Most of it isn’t even rock, but ice. Comets come from here. We don’t hear much about it because the distances even from the Outer Planets mean it’s not really cost effective to live or work there. And since the commercialization of space, most people don’t even care…”

“Excuse me, Chris, but why am I getting an astronomy lesson?”

The entrepreneur grinned. “Give him a minute.” He jerked his head encouragingly at the grad student, who gave him a shy smile in return.

From the corner of his eye, James saw Thoren glower; then, the expression was smoothed away.

Chris didn’t notice. “Okay, the last time anyone has bothered to explore the Kuiper Belt was with the Seeker Probe of 2215. The American President, Linda Montero-Fadil, pretty much pushed it through on personality and stubbornness, but they called it Fadil’s Folly…” Thoren cleared his throat.

“Anyway!” Chris started, then floundered a moment, his train of thought derailed. He took a breath, touched an area of the map with two fingers and pulled it apart, expanding that area. He did it again and again, then rotated it and circled an object with a dark center. The rest of the map fell away.

“This is 2217RB86. Seeker did a flyby of it and its neighboring objects. That’s what you call, um, objects in the Kuiper Belt. Or Ky-boes. That’s what we call them at the university. So, this Ky-bo caught my attention because it’s got some very unusual readings, especially around this dark dot… I won’t bore you with the details. The point is, Dr. Thoren was able to get us some time on Old COOT — that’s a telescope on L5 Station – and um…” He stopped to glance around, as if making sure the security field was still in place. Then he pressed another button and pulled up a different, sharper image of the Ky-bo.

“We found this.”

“Oh, my.” James leaned forward, his nose only inches from the image. The dark circle had resolved into six crescent arms jutting from a sphere. One arm was partially dug into the rock.

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I am an author, editor, self-publishing book coach, speaker, publisher, NFP teacher, book reviewer, Theology of the Body teacher and Marriage Preparation Instructor. However, the roles I love the most are being wife to my husband of 36 years, James, and mother to our five adult sons, ages 19-31.

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